Qualla: Spiral Jetty

Spiral Jetty: Introduction

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Lanma726 (talk) 23:49, 19 November 2010 (UTC), CC BY-SA 3.0. On the northeastern shore of the Great Salt Lake, a coil of black basalt rocks spirals 1,500 feet into red water. Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty, built in 1970, is one of the most important works of land art ever created - a sculpture so massive it can be seen from space, so remote that most people who know it have never visited. Smithson chose this location for its apocalyptic beauty: the red water (colored by salt-loving bacteria), the industrial ruins of a nearby oil jetty, the crystalline salt, the sheer inhospitality. He moved 6,650 tons of black basalt and earth to create the spiral. Then the lake rose and Spiral Jetty disappeared for 30 years, visible only in photographs and Smithson's documentary film. When the lake level dropped in 2002, the jetty re-emerged, encrusted with white salt crystals that have transformed its appearance. It's still there, still spiraling into the red water, still demanding the pilgrimage.

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Image: Lanma726 (talk) 23:49, 19 November 2010 (UTC) | CC BY-SA 3.0

Spiral Jetty: The Artist

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit R.Blauert Dk4hb, Public domain. Robert Smithson was a leader of the land art movement, which emerged in the late 1960s as artists rejected galleries and museums for the landscape itself. He believed art should engage with entropy and geological time, not resist it. Smithson chose the Great Salt Lake for Spiral ...

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Image: R.Blauert Dk4hb | Public domain

Spiral Jetty: The Construction

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Chris Light, CC BY-SA 4.0. In April 1970, Smithson leased the lakeshore land and hired contractors to move 6,650 tons of black basalt rocks and earth into the lake. The work took six days. The spiral coils counterclockwise from the shore, 1,500 feet long and 15 feet wide, reaching water about knee-deep at ...

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Image: Chris Light | CC BY-SA 4.0

Spiral Jetty: The Disappearance

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Andrew J. Russell / Adam Cuerden, Public domain. Within a few years of construction, the Great Salt Lake's level rose, submerging Spiral Jetty. For nearly 30 years, the work existed only in photographs, film, and memory. Art critics debated whether the invisible jetty still counted as art, whether Smithson would have wanted it ...

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Image: Andrew J. Russell / Adam Cuerden | Public domain

Spiral Jetty: The Experience

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit William Henry Jackson, Public domain. Visiting Spiral Jetty requires commitment. The drive from Salt Lake City takes about two hours, the last 15 miles on unpaved road. There are no facilities, no markers, no admission. You arrive at a shoreline, and there it is - the spiral extending into water that may be red, pink...

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Image: William Henry Jackson | Public domain

Spiral Jetty: Visiting Spiral Jetty

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit An Errant Knight, CC BY-SA 4.0. Spiral Jetty is located on the northeastern shore of the Great Salt Lake, about 100 miles northwest of Salt Lake City. Take I-15 north to Golden Spike National Historical Park, then follow signs west to Rozel Point. The last 15 miles are unpaved; high-clearance vehicles are recom...

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Image: An Errant Knight | CC BY-SA 4.0